Iverson Gets In Last Word, Scores 37 in 76er Victory

Maybe Cleveland fans should cheer for Allen Iverson the next time he visits. Booing him isn’t working.

Iverson, who set the Gund Arena scoring record with 50 last season, once again burned the Cavaliers on Monday night, scoring 24 of his 37 points in the second half as the Philadelphia 76ers ended a four-game losing streak with a 106-97 victory.

“I don’t even let my mom come here,” he said. “They’re the toughest here by far. I hear them, ‘Jail-bird this, jail-bird that. Thug this, thug that.’ I just feed off that.”

Phoenix 101, Dallas 83--Jason Kidd shook off flu and recorded his third triple-double in five games to lead the Suns over the road-weary Mavericks at Phoenix. Kidd had 17 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

It was the Mavericks’ seventh road game in 11 days, the longest trip in team history.

Minnesota 95, San Antonio 89--Sam Mitchell scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and the Timberwolves extended the best start in franchise history with a victory over the Spurs at Minneapolis.

Minnesota improved to 8-2 and won its 12th consecutive home game, dating back to March 18.

Orlando 107, Sacramento 96--Nick Anderson scored a season-high 30 points and Penny Hardaway had 23 points and eight assists and the Magic remained unbeaten at home, defeating the Kings. Orlando has the best record in the Eastern Conference at 9-2.

Chicago 77, Atlanta 68--The Bulls, off to their worst start in 20 years, ended a seven-game losing streak with a victory over the Hawks at Atlanta. The Bulls were in Atlanta for the first time since last March 27, when an NBA-record crowd of 62,046 saw them at the Georgia Dome. There were 8,258 in attendance Monday at the 9,300-seat Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

NBA Notes

After putting leading scorer Steve Smith on the injured list because of a strained right knee, the Hawks re-signed former Kentucky guard Jeff Sheppard, who was with the team in training camp. . . . Scottie Pippen received a $5,000 fine for actions toward referees in Houston’s 109-83 loss at Orlando on Sunday. He was called for a technical foul while sitting on the bench early in the fourth quarter, then was ejected after exchanging words with referee Hue Hollins with 4:41 remaining.